Get Them Here
So these are the Sennheiser CX True Wireless earbuds… they're the successors to the Sennheiser CX 400BT’s True wireless earbuds that came out in the Summer of 2020. Now these earbuds aren’t a MAJOR upgrade from their predecessors… but they do have some very important improvements to them… and I’l even say it right now I think these sound better than the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s which have been my number 1 favorite sounding earbuds for a while now… and these just have me even more excited for the Sennheiser Momentum true wireless 3’s.
Regarding pricing, the CX’s have a retail price of $130 where as when the CX 400BT’s first came out they used to retail for $200 and then eventually went on sale. Now if you’re looking for earbuds and sound is your main priority then the CX’s are a solid pick up that won’t break the bank. But for comparison sake the Momentum 2’s have a retail price of $300 but you can find them on sale for $250 these days… I wonder why. Nonetheless if you want to pick any of these earbuds up they’ll be linked down below.
Now first lets talk about this case. The CX’s case is basically identical to the CX 400BT’s case… its the same size and it has the same slightly powdered plastic body… except the battery indicator light has now been moved to the front similar to most other cases out there. Which is the correct placement. Now regarding size this case is fairly compact and it does have a small foot print to it similar to the AirPods Pro’s case or Galaxy Buds Pro’s case… but this case is noticeably thicker than the AirPods case and Galaxy Buds case. Nonetheless you can definitely daily drive this case and this case isn’t super noticeable when its in your pocket which is great. Cause for comparison sake, the momentum 2’s case is a little bit on the larger side. I say you can still daily drive this case but this is the largest case that ill say is acceptable. So like I’ve said in the past I really hope the future momentum 3’s will have a case similar to the CX 400BT’s now CX’s cause the momentum earbuds actually fit inside this case.
Now when it comes to battery life, this is one of the first improvements that we see going from the CX 400BT’s to the CX’s. The CX 400BT’s had an advertised battery life of 20 hours. The earbuds themselves could go for 7 hours and the case could supply 2 additional charges. Now a 20 hour battery life on earbuds is fine… but the more the better. Cause now with the CX’s they have an advertised combined battery life of 27 hours. The earbuds themselves can go for 9 straight hours and the case can supply an additional 2 charges.
And for comparison sake with the Momentum 2’s they have a combined battery life of 28 hours with their ANC turned off. The earbuds themselves can for 7 hours just like the CX 400BT’s but their larger case gives you 3 additional charges over the 2 additional charges found on the smaller cases.
Now when it comes to actually charging the CX’s case… it charges via a USB C port just like these other sennheiser cases. But unfortunately this case doesn’t have wireless charging which admittedly is becoming more and more standard. Now personally I don’t really care about wireless charging… but this could be a big deal either for someone who has a phone that supports power sharing or if you’ve already invested into a few wireless chargers.
But now lets talk about the earbuds themselves. Regarding sculpts the CX’s are identical to the CX 400BT’s… meaning that their fit hasn’t changed. The CX’s fit like your standard pair of in ear ear buds. As in they go in to you ear canals a decent amount just like lets say the Galaxy Buds, and the CX’s have your standard round ear tips. These ear buds aren’t shallow fitting like lets say either the AirPods Pro or Jabra Elite 85T’s, they don’t have oval ear tips like the earbuds that I just mentioned or like the Galaxy Buds Pro, and the ear tips on the CX’s are your standard silicon ear tips. They aren’t these squishy foam ear tips that you’ll find on the Sony WF-1000XM4 which I find to be very itchy. Overall fit is very subjective, but the CX’s fit fine for a pair of standard earbuds. They have good lock down and they passively block out noise. But yes they do feel a little more intrusive than your AirPods Pro or Jabra’s if you’re not used to in ear earbuds… but they don’t have any major problems to point out like the foam ear tips found on the Sony WF-1000XM4 which can get very itchy very quickly. But for comparison sake even though the CX’s have a very different sculpt to the Momentum 2’s… they still fit the same.
But when it comes to connectivity… this is the most important and noticeable upgrade found on the CX’s and its been a long time coming for sennheiser. On the CX’s each earbud establishes a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either on it doesn’t matter. And for 2021 this is the connection setup that we expect to see on our earbuds.
Where as with sennheiser’s previous earbuds, even the more premium Momentum 2’s they were using a hero and side kick set up. Meaning that one earbud, in this case the right earbud, the hero earbud actually establishes a connection with your phone and then relays that connection to the other earbud. So if just wanted to use one earbud at a time you would have to use the correct earbud in this case the right earbud of the hero earbud.
Now there’s nothing inherently wrong with earbuds that are using a hero and side kick set up… but earbuds that are still using a hero and sidekick set are either older or last gen or theyre just cheaper. However for my power users these earbuds are better suited to be used with one primary device. These earbuds can’t be simultaneously connected to multiple devices and you can’t hot swap with them. If youre going to go from one device to another you are going to have to fiddle around with your bluetooth menus on both devices.
However when it comes to performance these earbuds have zero latency across the board when watching movies or videos on your phone whether youre using an iPhone or an android device and when it comes to audio codecs these earbuds have support for SBC, AAC, and APTX.
But now lets talk about actually listening to music with these earbuds. Like I’ve mentioned in the past the Sennheiser Momentum 2’s are my favorite sounding earbuds… and by default so are the Sennheiser CX 400BT’s cause they sound identical to the Momentum 2’s. To me the momentum 2’s are the most open sounding earbuds, they have great clarity and they have rich resonating bass that not only sounds and feels great… it also doesn’t interfere with the rest of the music like with some other earbuds. Now when it comes to instrument separation and clarity I gotta say the new CX’s sound identical to the Momentum 2’s. However I can’t help but notice that the bass on the new CX’s just hits harder and resonates more than the bass on the Momentum 2’s. Now just like the CX’s the momentum 2’s have an adjustable EQ, but no matter how much I play around with these settings I can’t get the bass on the momentum 2’s to hit as hard or resonate as deep as the bass on the CX’s. Now don’t get me wrong… the additional bass found on the CX’s isn’t a huge difference from the bass found on the Momentum 2’s and I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re causal user didn’t notice a difference… however I do think that a very easy song to try this out with is going to be reminder by the weeknd… but the additional bass found on the CX’s just makes listening to music more fun and dynamic… However like I mentioned earlier there is an app for sennheiser’s earbuds which works on both android and iOS… here’s looking at you galaxy buds pro. And through this app you can adjust the sound of these earbuds to your liking. So if you want even more bass you can do that or if you want more vocals you can do that as well. But personally im just going to be sticking to these earbuds stock EQ. However I do want to quickly point out that the stock EQ on the CX’s is a little different from the stock EQ found on the Momentum 2’s. Besides the CX’s more hard hitting bass… I also noticed that the highs on the CX’s are a little more relaxed than the highs on the Momentum 2’s. Overall sounding just a touch warmer than the Momentum 2’s.
Now when it comes to your media controls just like before the CX’s are using touch pads. And these touch pads are strictly tapped based. Meaning that that are no swiping gestures. Overall these touch pads are very accurate and they're easy to use. You’ve got full control over your media and you can also adjust your volume all from the earbuds themselves. And through Sennheiser’s app you can adjust the layout of your controls to your liking. However if you’re an android user just keep in mind that these earbuds don’t have Hey Google support. Meaning that the only way you can active your voice assistant with these earbuds is through tapping and holding on their touch pad.
However regarding media controls I do gotta point out that the CX’s still don’t have proximity sensors just like their predecessors the CX 400BT’s. Meaning that when you take either of these earbuds out of your ears they aren’t going to automatically pause your music like with most other earbuds in this price range. And personally I do think this is a noticeable inconvenience.
And again for comparison sake the momentum 2’s do have proximity sensors… which given their pricing they better. But the momentum 2’s also have active noise cancellation which I feels is on par with the ANC found on the AirPods Pro… But the ANC on the Momentum 2’s slotted below the Jabra Elite 85T’s and Sony WF-1000XM4’s who’s ANC just blocks out more noise.
But also the Momentum 2’s have an ambient mode where as the CX’s just don’t. Meaning that with the Momentum 2’s you can pump in some of the surrounding sounds around you so that you can still listen to your music or podcast but still be aware of your surroundings when you’re out walking around the city.
But finally here’s the microphone test on the sennheiser CX’s… and im going to have to say that right now with the 1.6.8 firmware running on these earbuds, this microphone needs works. For starters this microphone does sound very quiet… but the really weird thing about this mic is that it will randomly raise the gain for a split second and then bring it back down.
So for right now im going to have to say that I wouldn’t take phone calls with these earbuds cause of the low volume and random mic gain. But I think Sennheiser can fix this through a software update cause they’ve done it in the past.
But for comparison sake here’s the microphone on the CX 400BT’s which have way more amplification to them. However I do feel that this microphone has a little bit too much amplification to it and it doesn’t sound as clear as the CX’s.
And finally here’s the microphone on the Momentum 2’s. Which I feel have a good amount of amplification to them. Its not over done like the CX 400BT’s and these earbuds don’t sound quite like the new CX’s. However like I said I do think the mic on the CX’s has better clarity. So I really hope their microphone gets fixed with a firmware update soon.
So with all the being said, the new sennheiser CX’s aren’t a huge upgrade from the Sennheiser CX 400BT’s. But they do have some notable upgrades like an improved battery life and their earbuds now each establish a connection with your phone. So if you just want to use one earbud at a time you can use either one it doesn’t matter. But my favorite upgrade is that these earbuds do sound a little better than both the CX 400BT’s and Momentum 2’s. Specifically their bass just hits a little harder and it resonates a little more. Just adding more fun to Sennheiser’s already very expansive listening experience.